Indian football legend Tulsidas Balaram passes away aged 87
Kolkata, Feb 16: Asian Games gold medallist and Olympian Tulsidas Balaram, a part of Indian football's 'holy trinity' in the prosperous 1950s and 60s, passed away here on Thursday after a prolonged illness, sources close to his family said.
Balaram was 87 and a widower living in a flat on the banks of Hooghly river in Uttarpara.
The 1962 Asian Games champion was hospitalised on December 26 last year and was being treated for urinary infection and abdominal distension.
"His condition did not improve and he breathed his last around 2pm today," a source close to his family told PTI.
"We are grateful to the state government and the sports minister Aroop Biswas for taking good care of him during his last days," he added.
Born on October 4, 1936, to Tamil parents -- Muthamma and Tulsidas Kalidas -- in Ammuguda village in the garrison town of Secunderabad, Balaram scored 131 goals across seven seasons.
Balaram belonged to the golden generation of Indian football in the 1950s and 60s where he teamed up with legends such as Chuni Goswami and PK Banerjee, as they came to be known as 'holy trinity'.
An Arjuna awardee, Balaram's exploits at the 1960 Rome Olympics are well documented.
Placed in the 'group of death' with Hungary, France and Peru, India lost the opener to Hungary 1-2 but Balaram covered himself in glory by scoring a 79th-minute goal. He also scored against Peru in the Games.
India came close to upsetting France a few days later with Balaram again showing his class.
The Jakarta Asian Games gold, where India beat South Korea 2-1 in the final, was the country's second title triumph in football at the multi-discipline continental games, and the achievement hasn't been repeated since.
Besides his ability to score brilliant goals, Balaram was well-known for his amazing ball control, dribbling and passing abilities through a comparatively short but very successful career.
Balaram, who mostly played as a centre-forward or as a left-winger, called it a day in 1963 owing to poor health.
His career spanned eight years between 1955 and 1963, before being cut short by tuberculosis at the age of 27.
Having made his international debut against Yugoslavia at the 1956 Melbourne Olympics, where India finished fourth, he went on to play 36 matches for the country while finding the net 10 times, including four in the Asian Games.
He has represented Bengal and Hyderabad in the Santosh Trophy and tasted success with both states.
After his retirement as an active footballer, Balaram coached the Calcutta Mayor's team in the Gothia Cup in Sweden. He had also served as a talent spotter of the All India Football Federation.
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Haryana: YouTuber allegedly murders husband with help of friend, dumps body in drain
Chandigarh, Apr 16 (PTI): A 28-year-old YouTuber allegedly murdered her husband with the help of a male friend, also a content creator, after he objected to their "intimacy" and her social media activities. The duo carried the body on a motorcycle and dumped it in a drain in Haryana's Bhiwani, where it was found three days later, police said on Wednesday.
"Both the accused -- Ravina and Suresh -- have been arrested and further investigations are on," the Station House Officer of Sadar Bhiwani, Inspector Narender, said.
The police said that they found CCTV footage where the two accused were seen riding a motorcycle purportedly carrying the body on a deserted road road late in the night.
The victim, identified as Praveen (32), was murdered on March 25 after he had an argument with his wife Ravina in Suresh's presence at their home. "Ravina used her dupatta to strangle Praveen and he was also hit on the head by the two accused," the SHO said.
The woman returned to her home after the two threw the body in a drain.
Concerned about Praveen's whereabouts, his family filed a complaint with the Bhiwani police on March 26.
A police official from Bhiwani said the couple got married eight years ago and have a six-year-old son.
It is claimed that arguments used to break out frequently between Ravina and Praveen, who objected to her posting videos on social media and devoting a lot of her time to such activities, the official said.
The police said during the past few months their marriage had become strained over Ravina's "intimacy" with Suresh, whom she met on Instagram nearly two years ago.
Ravina and Suresh, also a content creator and hailing from Hisar, made videos together.
SHO Narender said that the couple's son was sleeping at home at the time of the incident.
Ravina, who has over 34,000 followers on Instagram and over 5,000 on her YouTube channel, is a resident of a village in Rewari district and had married Praveen, who hails from a village in Bhiwani, in 2017.
Ravina's social media commitments also involved her going out of home frequently, the police said.
Praveen was working as a driver and a labourer at a sand and gravel shop in Bhiwani, the police said.
The police claimed that during interrogation the accused woman confessed to committing the crime with her friend.
